Tuberculosis research in South Africa over the past 30 years: From bench to bedside

S Afr Med J. 2019 Dec 5;109(11b):45-52. doi: 10.7196/SAMJ.2019.v109i11b.14249.

Abstract

The South African Medical Research Council Centre for Tuberculosis Research has a rich history of high-impact research that has influenced our understating of this hyper-epidemic which is further exacerbated by the emergence and spread of drug-resistant forms of the disease. This review aims to summarise the past 30 years of research conducted in the Centre which has influenced the way that tuberculosis (TB) is diagnosed and treated. The review includes the development of new technologies for rapid screening of people with probable TB and the repurposing of human diagnostics for wildlife conservation.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Academies and Institutes
  • Animals
  • Animals, Wild
  • Antitubercular Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Biomedical Research
  • Cattle
  • Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis / diagnosis
  • Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Interferon-gamma Release Tests
  • Latent Tuberculosis / diagnosis
  • Livestock
  • Mass Screening
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography
  • South Africa
  • Tuberculosis / diagnosis*
  • Tuberculosis / drug therapy*
  • Tuberculosis, Bovine / diagnosis
  • Tuberculosis, Bovine / therapy
  • Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / diagnosis
  • Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant / drug therapy

Substances

  • Antitubercular Agents